Sports

Tigers storm back to end losing streak to rivals

Wiggins wins new River Rivalry trophy

The Wiggins varsity volleyball team poses for a team photo with the River Rivalry trophy after defeating Weldon Valley 3-2 at the Wiggins Event Center on Thursday (Brandon Boles / Fort Morgan Times)

WIGGINS — The winning streak for Weldon Valley over Wiggins is no more.

Wiggins, who had not defeated the Warriors in the last 13 matches the teams have played against each other dating back to 2008, came back from losing the first two sets to upset the Warriors in a five-set thriller, giving the Tigers the new River Rivalry trophy the two schools agreed to create for the game this year.

A big crowd came out for both schools at the Wiggins Event Center Thursday evening for the rivalry game. The teams were all ready pumped for the match, but the addition of the traveling trophy added more to the rivalry this year.

"We saw (Thursday) morning that there was a trophy now," junior Makayla Harris said. "We had a volleyball group chat and we told ourselves that we had to get that trophy. It made us want this more."

The match did not start well for the Tigers as Weldon Valley rolled early in the match. With the first set tied at four, Weldon Valley scored 21 of the last 27 points to win the set easily 25-10. Another scoring run late in set two carried the Warriors to a 25-18 win.

Junior Anna Sanchini, the team leader in kills this season, had a big number of kills in the first two sets. Many of her kill attempts could not be slowed down by the Tigers at the net and were tough to dig out. The Warriors also got kills from senior Reba Ruland and sophomores Kirsten Wood and Kaybree Keating when the offense chose to ran away from Sanchini.

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"Anna (Sanchini) kind of sets up our offense by driving the block towards her," Weldon Valley head coach Jerry Spooner said. "Once that happens, we start going other ways. I thought we were getting the ball to our hitters tonight."

The attack up front for Weldon Valley had little trouble early, but starting in the third set, the attack was not as efficient for the Warriors.

Wiggins shifted the momentum of the match back in their favor by getting up at the net and blocking the ball off the Weldon Valley attack. The blocking game started to slow down some shots for the back line to dig and also scored points for the Tigers.

"Blocking is such a powerful thing," Wiggins head coach Michelle Baker said. "It can really get in a hitter's head. That has happened to us before. Blocking can spark up a fire on that end of the court. The momentum is great."

Harris was the leader for the Tigers in blocks in the match. She was also aided by junior Courtney Jenson, sophomore Tanna Hansen, and freshman Paige Finegan in containing the Warriors offense.

"We knew that was what we needed to do and that was what we focused on," Harris said. "Through our blocking, we were able to get the passes that we need to execute."

By slowing down the Warriors offense, Wiggins got its own offense rolling behind junior Tori Jordan, sophomore Chloe Baker, Harris, Jenson, and Hansen. Wiggins held on late in set three to win 25-23 and in set four to get the 25-22 win.

In the final set, the momentum carried Wiggins to a 15-7 win. The "Jock Squad" crowd stormed the court to congratulate the team. A few moments later, Wiggins athletic director Aaron Phillips presented the trophy to the team.

The win sees Wiggins improve to 5-4 on the season and snap a lengthy losing skid to the Warriors. Baker said the win and the rivalry means a lot to the team, but the win on Thursday was more about her team playing to the potential she felt they could reach.

"These girls finally showed what they were capable of doing," Baker said. "They played like we have wanted them to play since the summer. The girls gained a lot of confidence tonight, and that's what I'm most excited about."

Weldon Valley falls to 6-2 with the loss. Thursday was the second time the Warriors lost a match after winning the first two sets this year. It's a lesson Spooner hopes his team will learn from going forward.

"We have to correct some issues when we are up like we were," Spooner said. "We have to trust each other."

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